View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Bath Research Portal Citation for published version: Mackintosh, KA, Standage, M, Staiano, AE, Lester, L & McNarry, MA 2016, 'Investigating the Physiological and Psychosocial Responses of Single- and Dual-Player Exergaming in Young Adults', Games for Health Journal, vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 375-381. https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2016.0015 DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2016.0015 Publication date: 2016 Document Version Peer reviewed version Link to publication Final publication is available from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2016.0015 Copyright©2016 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers. University of Bath General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 13. May. 2019 1 Running Title: Single- and Dual-player exergaming in adults 2 3 4 5 Investigating the Physiological and Psychosocial Responses of Single- and Dual-Player 6 Exergaming in Young Adults 7 8 Kelly Mackintosh,1 Martyn Standage,2 Amanda E. Staiano,3 Leanne Lester,4 Melitta McNarry1 9 1 College of Engineering, Swansea University, Wales, UK, 2 Department for Health, University of 10 Bath, England, UK, 3 Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 4 School of Sport Science, Exercise 11 and Health, University of Western Australia 12 13 Corresponding Author: Kelly Mackintosh 14 15 1 Abstract 2 Objective: 3 This study investigated the effect of acute exergaming on the physiological and psychosocial responses 4 of young adults and the modulatory effect of a single- or dual-player game play situation. 5 Materials and Methods: 6 Thirty six participants (19 male; 21.7 ± 3.8 years; 23.65 ± 3.17 kg·m-2) each completed two 30-minute 7 exergame sessions in a randomised order (single- and dual-player) whilst wearing an Actiheart® to 8 estimate energy expenditure. Positive and negative affect, subjective vitality and indices of intrinsic 9 motivation were assessed directly after each gaming bout. 10 Results: 11 There was no significant difference in energy expenditure or psychosocial outcomes between 12 conditions. Although males expended more energy than females in both single- (z=-2.124, p=0.033) 13 and dual-player situations (z=-2.679, p=0.007), females reported significantly greater vitality (z=-2.219, 14 p=0.026) and effort/importance than males (z=-2.001, p=0.045). Conversely, males reported greater 15 negative affect (z=-2.872, p=0.004) and pressure/tension (z=-3.295, p=0.001)). A linear mixed effects 16 model revealed that energy expenditure during exergaming was a significant predictor of interest and 17 enjoyment (P=0.001) and effort and importance (P=0.001). This relationship between energy 18 expenditure and psychosocial variables was not modulated by sex or order of game play (single or dual- 19 player first). 20 Conclusion: 21 The present results suggest that females have a more positive psychosocial response to exergaming 22 relative to males, highlighting exergames such as Wii boxing as a potential avenue for future 23 interventions seeking to address the low physical activity levels that characterise the young adult 24 population. 25 26 27 1 Introduction 2 Regular participation in physical activity is associated with numerous physiological and 3 psychological health benefits.1-3 Accordingly, a physically active lifestyle is considered a choice that 4 can profoundly and positively influence health and longevity.4 Despite World Health Organisation 5 guidelines that adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 6 (MVPA) throughout the week,5 23% of adults globally are not sufficiently active to accrue health 7 benefits.6 8 Whilst physical activity levels appear to decline progressively with age,7 this decline is 9 especially pronounced in young, university-aged adults for whom physical activity is evidenced to 10 decrease by 24% during the transition from high school to college.8 This decrease is further 11 compounded by an increase in sedentary behaviours;9 in addition to time spent sitting in lectures and 12 studying, recent studies have suggested that a significant proportion of students’ time is spent playing 13 video games.10 Indeed, Wack and Tantleff-Dunn10 reported that, on average, students spent 10 hours 14 per week playing video games, with 8.5% of students spending up to 35 hours per week. Similarly, 15 studies have shown the mean time spent playing video games to be 8.5 ± 12.2 hours per week, with 16 39% of students playing more than 2 hours per week.11, 12 The popularity of game play has led to the 17 development of games that aim to combine video game playing with physical activity in an effort to 18 counteract the negative consequences associated with conventional, sedentary game playing without 19 necessitating people to relinquish highly-valued behaviours.13 20 Active video games, often referred to as exergames, have been shown to significantly increase 21 energy expenditure relative to rest or traditional sedentary video games.14-18 However, methodological 22 issues, including a reliance on small sample sizes, a predominant focus on children and adolescents and 23 limited ecological validity largely constrain the interpretation of previous studies. Specifically, Miyachi 24 et al.15 suggested that previous studies may have underestimated the energy expenditure associated with 25 exergames due to indirect calorimetry restricting natural play patterns. 26 With many contemporary video games incorporating a multi-player element, the predominant 27 utilisation of a “single-player” mode in previous studies is unlikely to be representative of typical game 28 play; preadolescents generally choose a multi-player dance exergame over traditional solitary physical 1 activities,19 with the primary reason cited for playing such games being social interaction.20 Indeed, 2 exergames have recently been highlighted as a mechanism to build social relationships and skills.21 A 3 key issue with the utilisation of single-player modes is a failure to account for the influence of 4 competition on energy expenditure and enjoyment, which have been shown to be substantially higher 5 when a competitive element was incorporated within video games.22 Indeed, competition has been 6 shown to engender greater gains when measuring performance-based outcomes, a notion supported by 7 findings in children showing a higher energy expenditure during exergames played against a peer than 8 against a virtual character.23 The applicability of these findings to adults is presently unclear; Peng and 9 Crouse24 reported a greater energy expenditure during single-player gaming whilst Bonetti et al.14 found 10 no difference between single and multi-player modes. Whilst it is important to recognise that “single- 11 player” games typically involve a virtual peer and are thus not true “single-player” modalities, these 12 discrepancies may additionally be attributable to the utilisation of non-randomised, short duration (5 13 minutes or less) exergame play. Furthermore, inter-study comparisons are limited by the use of 14 accelerometry-based assessments of exercise intensity, which are reliant on arbitrary cut-points25 and 15 are renowned for over- or under-estimating energy expenditure dependent on the location and activity.26 16 It has been suggested that the combination of synchronised accelerometry and heart rate data 17 demonstrate greater validity and reliability for the estimation of free-living energy expenditure.27, 28 18 A key barrier to participation in physical activity and exercise is the widespread view that 19 exercise is not enjoyable.29 However, it has been suggested that exergames may be perceived as being 20 less strenuous and more enjoyable than traditional programmes, even when total energy expenditure is 21 similar.30 Although recent research has acknowledged the potential relationship between energy 22 expenditure and psychosocial variables with regards to mediating the influence of an exergame-based 23 weight loss programme,31 further research is required to elucidate the basis for such a relationship. 24 Indeed, the influence of acute bouts of exergaming on psychosocial responses is presently unclear and 25 requires resolution before our understanding of long-term relationships may be advanced. 26 Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of an aerobic-based 27 exergame on the physiological and psychosocial responses of young adults and the modulatory effect 28 of single- or dual-player games on these responses. 1 2 Materials and Methods 3 Sample Population 4 A total of 36 university students (19 male; 21.7 ± 3.8 years; 23.65 ± 3.17 kg·m-2) were recruited 5 and provided written informed consent to take part in this study, which was approved by the local Ethics 6 Committee. 7 Experimental procedures 8 Stature and sitting stature to the nearest 0.1 cm (Seca Ltd. Birmingham, UK) and body mass to 9 the nearest 0.1 kg (Seca Ltd. Birmingham, UK) were measured using standard techniques [29] and 10 subsequently used to initialise the Actiheart to estimate energy expenditure. Body mass index was 11 calculated (body mass (kg)/stature2 (m2 )). Waist circumference was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm 12 using a non-elastic anthropometric tape and measurements were taken at the narrowest point between 13 the bottom of the ribs and the iliac crest. All measurements were undertaken by the same trained 14 researchers with the participants barefoot and wearing minimal clothing.